Golfer&#39;s training aid

ABSTRACT

A golf-swing guide comprising a tee receiver having a teereceiving opening therethrough, the receiver having flight direction indicator lines and a foot position indicator line thereon, the receiver being adapted to cling to the tee shank, a foot-positioning string extending from the receiver, the receiver being balanced for resting on the upper side of a golf ball for use on fairways and greens.

United States Patent Vlach Aug. 12, 1975 GOLFERS TRAINING AID 3,347,551 10/1957 Dreyfus 273/183 A 2 l2 l9 0 R .1 3 [76] Inventor: Anthony R. Vlach, 3205 s. 48th, D161 83 5 gers 273/18 A X Omaha Nebr 68106 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Filed g 20 1973 232,822 4/l925 United Kingdom 1. 273/208 [21 1 Appl. No.: 390,076 Primary ExaminerGeorge J. Marlo Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hiram A. Sturges [52] US. Cl 273/183 A; 273/187 R; 273/208 [51] Int. Cl A63b 69/36 [57] TRA [58 Field of Search 273/183, 208, 33, 187, A gu'de compflsmg a tee recever havmg a 273/202 203 tee-receiving opening therethrough, the receiver having flight direction indicator lines and a foot position [56] References cued indicator line thereon, the receiver being adapted to UNITED STATES PATENTS cling to the tee shank, a foot-positioning string extending from the receiver, the receiver being balanced for t fi Q resting on the upper side of a golf ball for use on fairug 1.761532 6/1930 Morris. 273/183 A ways and greens 3325,1618 6/1967 Fyanes 273/33 X 6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENIED Inc I 21915.

FIG. I

FIG. 4

FIG. 3

FIG. 5

FIG.8

FIG. 7

GOLFERS TRAINING AID FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is in the field of teaching aids for assisting golfers to improve the accuracy of their golf swing by indicating directions of intended flight and foot stance.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Golf-swing teaching aids of the prior art have, for the most part, been of a type useful only at home or on driving ranges because they are too bulky to use on a golf course.

A proposal has been made in the prior art for a special tee having no ground insertable shank, but provided with flight and foot stance indicating arrows. However, such a tee is impractical in actual use conditions because the surface on which it is to be rested is so rarely flat, whereas the conventional golf tee can be positioned with its shank vertical by simply inserting it vertically even though its position is on ground that is not level. And it is an important part of my invention that the entire golf-swing guide be comfortable to carry in the pocket of a golfers pants and, therefore, be blunt on its periphery to avoid the sharp arrows of the prior art proposal mentioned so as not to be dangerous from the standpoint of puncturing the golfers leg at a time when he might be bending over or at a time when something might accidentally strike the guide at a time when it is in his pocket.

An important feature of the invention is to provide the first golf-swing guide of a minimum horizontal dimension adapting it to be conveniently used on the golf course itself by having a size of less than 6 inches in maximum horizontal dimension, preferably about 1 /2 inches in maximum horizontal dimension and useful even in much lesser size, which also has any one of the following features: balanced construction so as not to fall off the top of a golf ball when placed thereon during use on fairways and greens for sighting prior to shooting; intended flight direction indicator means in the form of lines on both sides of a tee opening to give the double advantage of a maximum size flight direction indicator means for ease of sighting, and the second advantage of the possibility of use of the guide by a lefthanded golfer in addition to a right-handed golfer by using different ones of the lines forming the flight direction indicator means as the forwardmost line thereof; the ability to cling to a tee shank so as to tend to remain in position thereon, and yet be manually rotatable about the shank for alignment with an intended flight direction; and having foot position indicator means on its receiver; and further having, for use if desired, a string extendable at a right angle to a straight line of intended flight direction with one end of the string attached to the receiver in a position on a straight line along the string aligned with the center of the tee receiving opening of the receiver, the string being useful for indicating a distance from the ball which the golfer prefers to use either consistently or for preliminary experiment.

One or more of these features are found in patents in the prior art, but never in a golf-swing guide that is of a size small enough for convenient use at a golf course, or small enough to fit into a pants pocket or other pocket of the golfers clothing.

It is a particular object of this invention to provide a golf-swing guide useful on the fairways and greens and not just in tee areas, as has been the case with prior guides, since tees are not used on the fairways and greens.

A particular object is to provide a golf-swing guide useful as a teaching aid for use on the golf course during non-tournament play. As recreational pleasure is very important, it is an object of this invention to increase the pleasure of the game of golf as enjoyed between non-tournament friendly competitors, whose rulebasis of competition is even because they all use the guide.

A particular object is to increase the pleasure of the game of golf by reducing the amount of time that must be spent finding a golf ball in the rough areas. In my opinion, there is challenge enough for 99% of the golfers to do their best to maintain a low score. Since most golfers play for recreation, it is important that they have a minimum of frustration since there is enough of that during working hours for most people.

Above all, it is an object of this invention to provide a golf-swing guide that is adapted to make a player angle conscious so that when he is playing golf without using the guide, in his imagination, he is actually using the guide for more correct stance and more accurate swing.

Since golf already has adopted the use of the tee to enhance the joy of the game, it is an object of this invention to provide a small golf-swing guide adapted to be used at the golf course itself and serving, as a tee does, to enhance the pleasure of the game.

It is my opinion that a small and perfected golf-swing guide can become as much a part of the game of golf as the use of a tee itself, so that the game can be played with greater joy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A golf-swing guide comprising a tee receiver having a vertical tee opening extending completely therethrough and for the purpose of assisting a golfer to position himself for his golf-swing to hit a ball in an intended flight direction extending in a straight line to one side of the opening, intended flight direction indicator means on the receiver alignable with the straight flight direction line, the receiver being rotatable on the shank of the tee so such alignment can be done after the tee is in the ground, the receiver clinging to the shank of the tee so as to tend to hold its position when it is once aligned and so that the receiver can be placed at any desired position along the shank and will tend to hold its position without falling off whereby the receiver will lend itself to being assembled onto a tee in advance of a golf game and will tend to remain in assembly on a tee in a golfers pocket if he so chooses, the flight direction indicator means has forward and rearward portions substantially aligned with each other and on opposite sides of the opening, the tee receiver being balanced for resting on top of a standard golf ball for use on fairways and greens, the opening in the tee receiver having a plurality of slits or being otherwise of irregular shape and the material of the receiver being sufficiently yielding and resilient that it will cling to the shank of a standard tee.

The guide described in which a string or other foldable means is attached to the guide in a position disposed on a line which can be called the foot position indicator means or line which extends at a right angle to the intended flight direction indicator means, the string extending out a distance sufficient to be adjacent to a preferred position of the feet of the golfer during swinging, the receiver having a foot position indicator means thereon extending at a right angle to the intended flight direction indicator means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one form of a golf-swing guide of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the golf-swing guide of FIG. 1 shown in a position disposed on a standard golf tee which is inserted into the ground.

FIG. 3 is a 'view showing the golf-swing guide of FIG. 1 as modified by the addition of a string thereto for indicating foot position, only a portion of the string being shown in FIG. 3, a receiver portion of the guide being shown in FIG. 3 rested on top of a golf ball, which latter is shown in dotted lines, except for a segment therof which is shown in full lines.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of parts shown in FIG. 3, but with the string 160 not shown, since its use is optional.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a golf-swing guide in the form having the foot position string attached thereto, a portion thereof being broken away, and as seen in use position with a tee inserted therethrough.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the parts shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing a ball under which the guide of FIG. 5 is presumed to be disposed with the string thereof stretched out toward the feet of a golfer shown in swinging position in full lines, and the right foot in preliminary position in dotted lines.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a modification of the receiver portion of the golf-swing guide.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The golf-swing guide of this invention is generally indicated at 10 in FIG. 6 where it is fully shown and comprises a tee receiver generally indicated at having a vertical tee opening 26 extending completely vertically therethrough for receiving a vertically elongated shank 29 of a standard golf tee generally indicated at 30. The tee 30 has an enlarged upper portion 32 provided with a conventional ball recess shown only in dotted lines at 34.

The shank 29 is cylindrical. y

In accordance with this invention, the tee receiver 20 is provided with a flight direction indicator means generally indicated at 50 disposed on the receiver 20 and visible from the top of the receiver, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4 and extending outwardly from the opening 26 and substantially alignable with a straight line 40, best seen in FIG. 5.

The purpose of the tee receiver 20 is to assist a golfer to position himself for his golf swing so as to hit a ball 60 in an intended flight direction as indicated by an arrow 70 in FIG. 7, the intended flight direction 70 extending in a straight line to one side of the opening 26 as the receiver 20 is viewed from above, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 7.

The flight direction indicator means 50 comprises forward and rearward portions 52 and 54 which are substantially aligned with each other and disposed on opposite sides of the opening 26.

The receiver also has thereon, and visible from its upper side, afoot position indicator means extending outwardly from the opening 26 radially at a right angle to the aligned sections 52 and 54 of the intended flight direction indicator means 50.

The respective indicator means 50 with its sections 52 and 54 and the foot position indicator means 80 can all be formed in any manner so as to be visible from the upper side of the receiver 20 and can, for example, be painted on a piece of material of which the receiver 20 is formed.

The receiver 20 can be formed of a disc of plastic or other material circular around its periphery. However, the receiver 20 can also be formed in the manner shown in FIG. 8 in which the numeral 20' is applied to it to indicate that it is modified in the form of a cross having four legs 52', 54, 80 and 100. The legs 52' and 54 are in alignment with each other and elongated, and in the modified receiver 20 of FIG. 8, can be considered respectively to be the two sections of the intended flight direction indicator means which, in the FIG. 8 modification, is given the numeral 50'. The leg 80', therefore, serves as a foot position indicator means because of its length and straightness. All of the legs 52', 54, 80' and of the modification of FIG. 8 extend radially outwardly from a vertical tee opening 26 therethrough, which is of an identical description to the vertical tee opening 26 of the modification of FIG. 4, which will now be further described.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the tee receiver 20 is formed of a material which is sufficiently yielding and resilient and so shaped in portions thereof disposed adjacent the tee opening 26 that the receiver 20 will cling to the shank 29 of a standard tee 30 without allowing the receiver to fall downwardly on the shank 29, and yet so that the receiver can be manually rotated on the shank 29 for alignment of its intended flight direction indicator means 50 with the straight line 40 representing the intended flight direction.

Specifically, this is preferably accomplished by providing the opening 26 with a shape such that the majority of its wall surface is formed of segments 124 of a circle separated from each other by radial slits 128 extending radially outward from the center of the opening 26 so as to provide the opening 26 with the total shape adapted to yield and cling in the manner described.

The material of which the receiver 20 is formed is of a resilient nature.

As best seen in FIG. 5, the receiver 20 has a hole therethrough disposed radially outward from the center of the opening 26 in a direction along the foot indicator means 80. The hole 150 is for the purpose of attachment of a knot 152 of a string 160, which latter is of a length suitable for extending from the center of the receiver 20 horizontally outward to a point adjacent the feet 180 and 182 diagrammatically shown in FIG. 7 of the golfer who is standing in a position and ready to swing at the ball 60. The length of the string can be said to be sufficiently long for whatever golfer is using the golf-swing guide 10, whether child, adult, of any size.

Referring to FIG. 2, the ground is shown at 250 with a tee 30 inserted into it with most of its shank 29 being shown in dotted lines because it is under the ground and showing that the receiver 20 can be used in the position on the shank so as to define by its underside a position of maximum intended depth of insertion into the ground of the tee so that if a receiver 20 is placed on a tee in a desired position before going to the golf course, then at the time of positioning the tee it can be inserted into the ground to the depth required to place the underside of the receiver 20 on the ground In operation, the receiver 20 is then rotated about the shank 29 until its intended flight detection indicator means 50 is in alignment with the line of intended flight direction. Thereafter, the string 160 is stretched out in alignment with the foot position indicator means 80 with some care to avoid the rotation of the receiver 20 on the tee during this process, assisted by the fact that the receiver exerts a considerable pressure on the tee to prevent the dislocation accidentally of the receiver 20 with respect to a tee that is already in the ground.

The string 160 can be provided with a knot 300, best seen in FIG. 7, placed by the golfer on the string in a position indicating the preferred position in which the toe of the golfers foot 180 is to be positioned with respect to the ball 60. The knot can be placed at whatever selected distance has been found to be effective for a particular golfer.

Next, the golfer moves his right foot, assuming he is a right-handed golfer, from a dotted line position 182 to the full-line position 182, shown in FIG. 7.

The golfer then makes his golf-swing, being aided in his sighting for a good swing by the intended flight direction indicator means and by the string 160.

The total size of the receiver 20 can vary considerably from a size so small that its indicator means 50 can not be seen after the ball is placed on it to a size larger than that, even up to six inches, although a size that will fit in the golfers pocket conveniently is important.

The minimum size for the receiver 20 would perhaps be only slightly larger than the opening 26 itself, since if the receiver 20 is little more than the size of a dime the lines on it would serve less well, but would still be useful provided they are viewed before the ball is put on the tee, since the ball would obscure so small a re ceiver 20.

It is important that the receiver 20 be comfortable to carry in the golfers pants pocket. In accordance with that concept, the receiver can be circular on its periphery or else can be made in a shape of a cross shown in FIG. 8, but with the outer ends of the legs 52, 54', and blunted and rounded so as not to be dangerous from the standpoint of puncturing ones leg in the event that during bending over, or something accidentally striking the receiver in a persons pocket, the end of the leg might press into the thigh of the golfer.

The fourth leg 100 of the modified receiver 20 of FIG. 8 is simply for the purpose of balancing the receiver so as to balance the leg 80' so that the receiver can rest on the top of the golf ball in the manner shown in FIG. 3 without tending to fall off, the string being so light as not to disturb the balance enough to prevent use in the manner shown in FIG. 3, as is important 0n fairways and greens where tees are not used and the resting of the receiver directly on top of a ball makes possible a sighting even though the receiver is removed before swinging after the golfer has positioned his feet properly.

The tee receiver or indicator support 20 can be considered to have a ball-top-receiving recess means ex tending into its underside and which is defined in the modifications of FIGS. I, 4 and 8 by that portion of the vertical tee opening 26 or 26', respectively, that receives the uppermost part of a golf ball. Since the golf ball is round, and as seen in FIG. 3, a part of the golf ball would extend into the tee opening 26, and therefore, can be called a ball-receiving recess means defined by lowermost portion of the tee opening 26, the recess means therefor extending into the underside of the indicator support 20. i

The ball receiving recess means defined in the drawings by a lower part of the recess 26 as described is so positioned that the indicator support 20 is balanced sufficiently so that it can rest with substantial stability on top of a golf ball with the top of the ball partially received in the recess means formed by the lower part of the tee opening 26.

At the time the indicator support is so balanced with the ball received in its recess means the intended flight indicator means 50 can be aligned with an intended ball flight line 458 whereby simultaneously with the golfers swing the intended flight direction indicator means is visible from the upper side of the indicator support 20.

I claim:

1. A golf assembly comprising a golf ball and a balltop golf-swing guide, said assembly being for use at a golf course tee, in the rough, on fairways, and on putting greens, said guide comprising an indicator support, said support being rested on top of said ball, said guide being for the purpose of assisting a golfer to position himself for his golf-swing to hit said ball in an intended flight direction extending in an intended flight line to one side of said support, first indicator means on said support and visible from the top of said support, said first indicator means being substantially alignable with said flight line, said first indicator means being parallel to a radius line extending horizontally outward from the center of said ball, said first indicator means as seen from above being substantially aligned with a horizontally extending radius line of said ball, said support being balanced sufficiently so that it rests with stability on top of said golf ball.

2. The golf assembly of claim 1 in which said flight direction indicator means comprises forward and rearward portions substantially aligned with each other and on opposite sides of a center of said support.

3. The golf assembly of claim 1 further comprising foot position indicator means on said support and visible from the top thereof and indicating a position on a straight foot position line extending at a right angle to the intended flight line indicated by said intended flight direction indicator means.

4. The golf assembly of claim 1 further comprising a flexible elongated foldable foot-positioning member adapted to be placed in a straight line extending at a right angle to said intended flight line and connected at one end to said support at a point on a straight foot position line extending at a right angle to said intended flight line.

5. The golf assembly of claim 1 further comprising the periphery of said support being substantially blunt for safety to a golfer while it is carried in his pocket.

6. A golf-swing guide comprising an indicator support, said guide being for the purpose of assisting a golfer to position himself for his golf-swing to hit a ball in an intended flight direction extending in an intended straight flight line to one side of said support, intended flight direction indicator means on said support and visible from the top of said support, a foot position indicator means mounted on said support and visible from the upper side of said support and indicating a straight foot position line extending at a right angle to said intended flight line indicated by said intended flight direction indicator means as said support is viewed from above, said intended flight indicator means being substantially aligna-ble with said flight line, there being an imaginary point representing the intersection of a projected line indicated by said foot position indicator means and a projected line indicated by said intended flight direction indicator means, said support when in a horizontal plane being substantially balanced about said imaginary point, said guide being free of means substantially at said imaginary point which would interfere with the resting of said support on top of a golf ball with stability and with the center of the golf ball directly under said imaginary point, said support having a vertical tee opening extending completely therethrough for receiving a vertically elongated shank of a tee, a tee having an elongated shank, said support being sufficiently yielding and resilient and so shaped in portions thereof disposed adjacent said opening that said support will cling to said shank of said tee without allowing said support to fall downwardly on said shank and yet so said support can be manually rotated on said shank for alignment. 

1. A golf assembly comprising a golf ball and a ball-top golfswing guide, said assembly being for use at a golf course tee, in the rough, on fairways, and on putting greens, said guide comprising an indicator support, said support being rested on top of said ball, said guide being for the purpose of assisting a golfer to position himself for his golf-swing to hit said ball in an intended flight direction extending in an intended flight line to one side of said support, first indicator means on said support and visible from the top of said support, said first indicator means being substantially alignable with said flight line, said first indicator means being parallel to a radius line extending horizontally outward from the center of said ball, said first indicator means as seen from above being substantially aligned with a horizontally extending radius line of sAid ball, said support being balanced sufficiently so that it rests with stability on top of said golf ball.
 2. The golf assembly of claim 1 in which said flight direction indicator means comprises forward and rearward portions substantially aligned with each other and on opposite sides of a center of said support.
 3. The golf assembly of claim 1 further comprising foot position indicator means on said support and visible from the top thereof and indicating a position on a straight foot position line extending at a right angle to the intended flight line indicated by said intended flight direction indicator means.
 4. The golf assembly of claim 1 further comprising a flexible elongated foldable foot-positioning member adapted to be placed in a straight line extending at a right angle to said intended flight line and connected at one end to said support at a point on a straight foot position line extending at a right angle to said intended flight line.
 5. The golf assembly of claim 1 further comprising the periphery of said support being substantially blunt for safety to a golfer while it is carried in his pocket.
 6. A golf-swing guide comprising an indicator support, said guide being for the purpose of assisting a golfer to position himself for his golf-swing to hit a ball in an intended flight direction extending in an intended straight flight line to one side of said support, intended flight direction indicator means on said support and visible from the top of said support, a foot position indicator means mounted on said support and visible from the upper side of said support and indicating a straight foot position line extending at a right angle to said intended flight line indicated by said intended flight direction indicator means as said support is viewed from above, said intended flight indicator means being substantially alignable with said flight line, there being an imaginary point representing the intersection of a projected line indicated by said foot position indicator means and a projected line indicated by said intended flight direction indicator means, said support when in a horizontal plane being substantially balanced about said imaginary point, said guide being free of means substantially at said imaginary point which would interfere with the resting of said support on top of a golf ball with stability and with the center of the golf ball directly under said imaginary point, said support having a vertical tee opening extending completely therethrough for receiving a vertically elongated shank of a tee, a tee having an elongated shank, said support being sufficiently yielding and resilient and so shaped in portions thereof disposed adjacent said opening that said support will cling to said shank of said tee without allowing said support to fall downwardly on said shank and yet so said support can be manually rotated on said shank for alignment. 